Ryan's Write-up for Plato

Through the story of “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato presents multiple philosophies of the world. Guiding the viewer through Socrates and Glaucon’s conversation the story line evolves from a dialog filled with prompting questions and answers that are even more captivating. Exploring these many philosophies within the storyline, this allegory addresses three of Plato’s more pertinent thoughts. These three thoughts are that knowledge cannot be merely transferred from teacher to student, that enlightened individuals hold obligations to the rest of society, and also that the world we perceive is not the real world, but merely a simplified copy. Ideas that support these thoughts flood the storyline and create a sense of inquiry into the world around us. They also guide the reader to explore the world around us and leave great room for interpretation. This allows the reader to both personally connect to the writing and gain from it.
Firstly, Plato’s idea of transferring knowledge is one that seems very poignant. It can be witnessed when one cave-dweller is let out into the light and returns to share this new found knowledge with those still captive. At first, the captives think that their newly enlightened brother has gone mad and that the bright light from above has caused his vision to falter. They then refuse his ideas and it becomes said that if pushed they might even turn to violence to keep the same from happening to one of them, reflecting the sentencing of Socrates in true events Here Plato demonstrates this thought on education very well. He shows that although a teacher can present students with great ideas of the world around them, they must also be willing to take these ideas and learn from them. The students must be willing to investigate these ideas and accept them, for otherwise the words of the educator mean nothing. This idea can easily translate to all areas of education, but grows even more powerful when coupled with the next philosophy.
The same events presented above also present the reader with the quintessential idea that those who are enlightened have a responsibility to the rest of society. When our now knowledgeable cave-dweller thinks of the other captives, he wishes to tell them of the new sense of reality he has discovered. He tries to tell them of their lives’ falsehoods and show them the truth of their situation even though he might be rejected. With this knew knowledge the individual is shown a way to help others. Through sharing this information with others a society of a higher standard can be created with more of an understanding of the world around them. The idea reflects back to that of education however, and although one has the obligation to the society around them, they can not force the knowledge upon it. They must instead lead other to the point of enlightenment and allow the experience of it to be a personal one.
Lastly, the idea of how the world is perceived is addressed through out the stories events and the two main characters’ discussion. It was believed by Plato that the world as we see it is just second hand copy of reality and he presents this idea through the disposition of those in the cave. Although they trust that the shadows on the cave wall in front of them are true objects, the viewer knows them to be just shadows. Knowing only what they are used to the cave-dwellers are blind to a hundred different worlds that existed around them and this is how our own position was seen by Plato. Through this concept he urges the reader to explore the possibilities of different worlds around us and to open their eyes to these possibilities. It is these different points that help translate the story to a personal level for each person experiencing the allegory.
It is true that many different angles could be read into the story line of “The Allegory of the Cave”, but for the personal purposes and that of the class room it became apparent what angle this story should be lead into. Essentially, as the story unfolded it became ideal to relate these theories to the world of fine arts. Learning from these ideas one could contemplate different positions that an artist might be placed into. It becomes our job as an artist to see this enlightenment depicted in the allegory and share it in a more soothing means than shouting it upon the ears of the ignorant. For we are in a time were this freedom exists and we will most likely not be sentenced to death for such an action like Socrates was. However, we must also know that enlightenment is not a state of being, but rather it is more of a quest. It is a quest that sees no end and always uncovers a set of new tunnels and pathways to be traveled down. Keeping the ideas of Plato in mind an artist can share their vision and ideas learned through these travels with society using their artwork and sharing this knowledge on the terms of the viewer as well as on terms of their own.